Aliexpress has officially been overtaken by Temu, both on the Polish and international markets. This is the new king of cheap shopping.
If you asked 5 years ago where the best place to shop cheaply is, most Poles would have answered without hesitation – Aliexpress. No wonder the platform has taken the Polish market by storm, offering not only products that are rarely found here (because no one imports them), but also prices that are difficult for local sellers to compete with. The popularity of Aliexpress is best demonstrated by the fact that the brand has dedicated lockers for parcels.
However, nothing lasts forever, and immense competition causes major brands to lose their dominant position over time. This was evident in the case of smartphones (where LG or Sony are now), large enterprises (WeWork), and apparently also shopping platforms. Of course, this does not mean that Aliexpress will disappear from the market in the near future, but the data shows that when it comes to cheap purchases from China, a new dominant force is emerging, which has overtaken the old king in terms of popularity.
This is handled by Aliexpress. Change in leadership position
The latest data shows that Aliexpress is no longer the largest shopping platform. The market capitalization of its parent company, Alibaba, has fallen below PDD, the company behind the Temu brand.
It is not surprising that their product is conquering the market. In Poland alone, Temu, a until recently unknown platform, has more than 10 million users. This result was achieved in just 3 months, which shows how fast the company is. In our country, Temu became more popular than “Ali” and in September 2023 it had an additional 1 million users per month. This is a good reflection of the company’s situation, which recorded revenues of US$21.8 billion in the first three quarters of 2023 alone.
In addition, there are “domestic” problems for Aliexpress, especially resulting from the political confusion surrounding Alibaba’s owner and uncertain plans for the company’s future (Alibaba was likely to split into 6 independent entities). This, combined with Timo’s tremendous growth in local markets, may mean the change in leadership may be permanent. Of course – in such cases anything can happen. Let’s remember that not long ago, Shopee also had about 9 million users in Poland, and then suddenly decided to withdraw from Poland. Many platforms, such as eBay, have already rebounded from our market, which is dominated by Allegro (18 million users), so it is by no means certain that even despite the global growth, Temu has a guaranteed place in Poland.
I doubt that Poles approach the topic of Aliexpress with feelings. Buyers go where they get the best deal at the lowest price. Therefore, Timo will remain in first place until someone makes a better offer.
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